Trunk lid hold-down mechanism



July 20, 1965 G. v. WOODLING 3,195,940

TRUNK LID HOLD-DOWN MECHANISM Filed Aug. 8, 1963 INVENTOR.

22 GEORGE V. WOODL/NG United States Patent 3,195,940 TRUNK LII)HULD-DQWN MECHANISM George V. Woodling, 22077 W. Lake Road, Rocky River,Ohio Filed Aug. 8, 1963, Ser. No. 300,872 12 Claims. ((31. 292-262) Thisinvention relates to a mechanism for holding down an unlocked trunk lidand keeping it from flopping up and down when the contents of the trunkprevent the normal closing and locking of the lid.

An object of the invention is the provision of a trunk lid hold-downmechanism which may be readily attached and detached to and from thelatch and catch parts of the conventional trunk lock provided onautomobiles.

Another object is the provision of a mechanism for controlling theextent to which the trunk lid may be held down at a place external ofthe trunk body.

Another object is the provision of a mechanism which is simple instructure and easy to install and operate.

Other objects and fuller understanding of the invention may be had byreferring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying draW- ing, in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a rear end view of an automobile with the trunk lidraised and illustrating the manner in which FIGURE 4 is a view of thesecondary catch means of my invention looking down from the top thereofin FIG- URE 3, the latch part of the lock being shown in d*ashdot linesfor purposes of clarity;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view showing the holddown portion of theinvention which is attached to the catch part of the trunk lock; and

FIGURE 6 shows a modified form of the latch of a trunk lock to which mysecondary catch means may be attached.

With reference to FIGURE 1 there is illustrated the rear end of anautomobile having a trunk body 10 and a trunk lid 11 which is shown in araised position. The trunk lock comprises two parts, namely, a latchmeans 12 mounted underneath the trunk lid and a catch means 13 mountedadjacent the inner edge of the trunk body. My invention comprises asecondary catch means 27 which is adapted to be attached to the latchmeans 12, a rope-turn means 44 which is detachably connected to thecatch means 13, a rope 26 interconnecting the secondary catch means 27and the rope-turn means 44, and a ropestop means 50 which arrests thebackward movement of the rope through the rope-turn means 44 for holdingthe trunk lid down to a desired position short of the fully closedposition.

As shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, the latch means 12 comprises a latch body17 extending down from underneath the trunk lid 11. The latch body 17has mounted therein a latch element 18 which is arranged to pivot arounda pivot pin 19.

The catch means 13 comprises a post member fastened to the inner edge ofthe trunk body. The post is of a box-like construction having a side 22provided with an aperture 24 to make a catch element 23 which is adaptedto be engaged by the latch element 18 of the latch means 12.

In normal operation, when the trunk lid is closed, catch element 23first engages the latch element 18 at an initial place indicated by thereference character 24). As the trunk lid is further depressed, theinitial contact engagement rotates the latch element 18 clockwise to itslockposition, whereupon the latch element 18 is hooked under the catchelement 23. When the key is used to unlock the trunk, the turning of thekey releases the latch element 18, whereupon the latch element 18 mayrotate counterclockwise to free the latch element 18 from the catchelement 23.

In my invention, the secondary catch means 27 is adapted to bedetachably connected to the latch means 12 as shown in FIGURE 3.Preferably the secondary catch means 27 comprises a channel elementhaving an opening 32'therein which is defined by two spaced sideportions 28 and 29 and two spaced end portions 30 and 31. In mountingthe secondary catch means 27 to the latch means 12, the operator simplypresses the secondary catch means upwardly against the latch means 12with the latch body 17 extending through the opening 32 and when thechannel means engages the latch element 18 at the place 2%, it willrotate the latch element 18 in a clockwise direction to lock thesecondary catch means to the latch means.

As shown in FIGURE 4, the latch body 17 has first and second sideportions 35 and 36 and first and second ends 37 and 38. When thesecondary catch means 27 is locked to the latch means 12, the sideportion 28 of the channel member faces the side portion 35 of the latchbody, the side portion 36 faces the side portion 29, the end 37 facesthe end portion 39 and the end 38 faces the end portion 31. In otherwords, the opening 32 in the channel completely surrounds the latch body17 of the latch means 12 and thus the secondary catch means 27 cannotescape downwardly when the latch element 18 is in the lockposition.

The left-hand end of the secondary catch means 27 is provided with aneyelet 33 which is anchored to the channel member by means of a nut 34.The end 47 of the rope 26 is attached to the eyelet 33. When the rope 26is pulled down, the channel member tends to rotate in acounter-clockwise direction about the place where it rests upon thelatch element 18 and causes a lateral portion 3-9 of the channel memberto press against the latch body 17 at 49, whereupon the channel memberthen is firmly secured in place by the latch element 18.

All latch bodies are not identical in size. Therefore the opening 32 isof such a size to accommodate most of the latch bodies now found onmodern cars, and only one secondary catch means 27 need be provided toaccommodate most of the latch means on the cars. However, if for exampleone make of car happens to have an excessively large latch body, thenthere may be provided on the end of the rope two such secondary catchmeans whereby the operator may select the one that would fit the latchbody on his car. On some latch bodies, the latch element may be in thenature of a ratchet wheel. It is found that this present invention workswith a ratchet wheel in the same fashion that it works with the latchelement shown in the drawing.

The rope-turn means in the present invention preferably comprises aneyelet which is connected to a hook 45 having a spring-snap 46. Inattaching the rope-turn means 44 to the catch means 13, it is onlynecessary to snap the hook 45 into the aperture 24 whereupon the hookthen engages the catch element 23. I find that the snap-hook 45 is aconvenient method of anchoring the rope-turn means 44 to the catch means13, but any suitable means may be employed. The rope-turn means 44 andthe snaphook 45 may be made of an integral piece and is arranged to passthrough an opening 57 provided in an extension strap or means 56, uponwhich the rope-stop means 50 is mounted. As illustrated in FIGURES, therope-stop meanscomprises a clamp 51 "having a groove 52 on theunderneath side. thereof through which the rope 26 passes and 'ispressed against thetop surface of the extension strap 56 by means ofa'wing nut 53. In practice, the

length'of the extension strap or means 56 is approximately a foot longso that in the event, which occasionally arises, I

that the trunk lid is lowered to Within-a short distance of the trunkbody, the extension means 56 extends" out through this narrow trunkopening whereby the. rope-stop means 50 may be operated to clamp theropeexternally of the trunk body. The extension means 56 is importantparticularly in those instances where the trunk lid .is almost closedand there is not sufficient room for the operator to get his hand intothe trunk to secure the rope to a rope-stop means, if it were locatedwithin the trunk. The

. extension means '56 may comprise a strap member which is sufiicientlyrigidto withstand the pull of the rope.

In the operation of my invention, it is only necessary for I theoperator to press the secondary catch means 27 against the latch means12 until the latch element 18 locks the secondary catch means 27 inplace. Next the operator attaches the snap-hook 45 to the catch means13. The lid of the trunk .may then be pulleddown to its desired position short of the full closed position by pulling on the rope 2 6 andwhen the trunk lid is fully pressed down against the contents within thetrunk, the 'operator th'en clamps the rope under the rope-stop means 50by turning the wing nut 53. The rope-stop means may be of any othersuitable construction and comprise any mechanism less of the position towhich the "rope-stop means 50 may be swung, the extension means 56fixedly determines the distance between the rope-turn means 44 and therope-stop means 50. In'this invention, the secondary catch means 27,the'rope-turn means 44,-andthe rope-stop means 50 comprise acombinationot means forming a triangle with each means located at therespective'corners of the triangle. It is readily understood that thepivot connection may be directly attached to the trunk body separatefrom the rope-turn 'means' l so long as there is a relatively fixedrelationship betweenthe pivot connection .and the rope-turn means.Likewise, the rope-turn means 44 and the snap-hook 45 need notnecessarily be directly connected together as-shown in the drawing,although the drawing shows the preferred arrangement. The rope-turnmeans lt-may be mounted at one place near the inner pivoted end of'theextension means 56 and the snap-hook 45 or any other suitable attachmentmeans may be mounted toa nearby place on the .extensionmeans 56, so longas the mounting. relationship is relatively fixed to produce the desiredresult.

In some cars, the catch means is mounted ontheunder neath side of thetrunk lid and, the latch means is mounted on the inner edge of the trunkbody, being just the reverse ofthat'shown in the drawings. In thisevent, the holddown' mechanism would be mounted in a' reverse position.The claims cover-both circumstances.

which prevents the backward movement of the rope 2 6 through therope-turn means 44; The. trunk lid may be 7 released from the trunkhold-down mechanism simply by turning the key in the trunk lock wherebythe secondary catch means 27 will snap off the catch means 12.. Then theoperator may release the snap-hook 45 and place the the trunk until.further use.

FIGURE 6 shows a modified latch means which is identified by thereference ,character58 and is almost the same as thelatch means lzexceptthat it is provided with a hold-down mechanism in'some convenientplacewithin downwardly depending tab 59 which is spaced slightly to the leftof the latch 'body. In this event,- the secondary catch means 27 isanchored in a diiferent way than that shown in FIGURE 3. In thisarrangement, the lateral extending portion 39 of thesecondary catchmeans 27 is.

simply pressed upwardly between the latch body 60; and

the tab 59 and this upward movement causes, the latch element 61 torotate-in a clockwise direction about the pivot 62 until the ,latchelement 61 l0cks the lateral extending portion 39 in a lock-position.Otherwise, the invention operates the same asthat previously described;a

The rope in this application is used in a gencricrsense and comprisesany flexible elongated member which may have enough flexibility tooperate in my mechanism. Preferably, I find that nylon rope is verysatisfactory be- Also the rope-turn means'may comprise pulleys or otherarrangement constitutingameans toturn the direction of the rope as it isbeing pulled.

Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with acertain degree of particularity, it is understood that :the presentdisclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of exampleand that numerous changes in the details of construction and thecombination and arrangement'of parts may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafterclaimed.

What is claimedis: V ,7 7 1. In combination with a trunk lockhavinglatch means and catch means mounted respectively onthe trunk lidand trunk body or vice versa, said latch means having a lock-positionand a release-position with respect tosaid cat-ch means, said latchmeansupon'the closing of the trunklid being engaged by said catch means andactuated thereby from a release-position to a lockrposition for lockingthe trunk lid, saidlatchmeans upon operation by a key moving from alock-position'to a release-position whereby said trunk lid maybeopen-ed, a trunk lid holddown extensible mechanism comprising incombination, first means comprising secondary catch means attachable tosaid latch means in its'lock-position and detachable v cause it has lowsliding friction about the rope turn means. a

The rope-stop means Slidinouhted o njthe extension means 56 may be swungin an are. about the opening 57 which surrounds the neck between therope-turn means d4 and the snap-hook 45. Thus the-opening 57 and theneck constitute a pivot connectiom, During the lowering of the trunk lid'11, when the operator is pulling on the rope 26 the rope-stopm'eans 50may be swung to the right or left about the pivot c-onnection'andexteriorly and rearwardly of the trunkjbody 10, whereby the rope-stopmeans Silis readily accessible for clampingthe rope. After the clampingoperation is completed, the operator may swing the extension means'56about the pivot connection until the rope-stop means Si] is positionedwithin the trunkcompartment, or at any other position. Regardfrom saidlatch means inits release-position, second means comprising rope-turnmeans attachable to a said catch means, third means comprising ahold-down rope having an end connection portion connectedtofsaidseCondary catch means with the tree portion thereof passingthrough said rope-turn means whereby said trunk lid may be .pulleddownto a desired position short of the fully closed position by pullingat least a part of said tree portion through said rope-turn means andtherebyshortening the eifective length-of the rope between the secondarycatch means and the saidrope-turn means, fourth means comprising rope-2. In combination and catch means'mounted respectively on the trunk lidand trunk body or 'viceversa, saidlatch means having a lockposition anda release-position with respect to said catch means, said latch meansupon the closing of the trunk'lid being engaged by, said catch meansandactuated thereby from a release-position to a lock position forlocking the trunk lid, said latch means upon operation by a key movingfrom a lock-position to a release-position whereby said trunk lid may beopened, a trunk lid hold-down extensible mechanism comprising incombination, first means comprising secondary catch means attachable tosaid latch means in its lock-position and detachable from said latchmeans in its release-position, second means comprising rope-turn meansattachable to said catch means, third means comprising a hold-down ropehaving an end connection portion connected to said secondary catch meanswith the tree portion thereof passing through said rope-turn meanswhereby said trunk lid may be pulled down to a desired position short ofthe fully closed position by pulling atleast a part of said tree portionthrough said rope-turn means and thereby shortening the effective lengthof the rope between the secondary catch means and said ropeturn means,fourth means comprising rope-stop means to arrest the backward movementof said rope through said rope-turn means to hold said trunk lid down tosaid desired position with an open space between the trunk lid and trunkbody, and fifth means comprising extension means extending through saidopen space and between said ropeturn means and said rope-stop means toposition said ropestop means externally of said trunk body, whereby saidrope-stop means is readily accessible for operation, said latch meanshaving a latchbody and a movable latch element mounted thereon, saidlatch body having first and second sides and first and second edges withsaid movable latch element extending outwardly from said first edge,said secondary catch means comprising an encompassing member havingfirst and second spaced side portions facing respectively said sides oisaid latch body and first and second spaced end portions facingrespectively said first and second edges, said side and end portionsdefining an openingto encompass said latch body, said first end portionconstituting a catch element adapted to be engaged by said latch elementin its lock-position, said second end portion abutting against saidsecond edge, said hold-down rope being connected to said first endportion and rotating said encompassing member in a direction about saidlatch element to urge said second end portion against said second edge,said latch element clearing said first end portion'in itsrelease-position whereby said secondary catch means may be detached fromsaid latch means.

3. In combination with a trunk lock having latch means and catch meansmounted respectively on the trunk lid and trunk body or vice versa, saidlatch means having a lock-position and a release-position with respectto said catch means, said latch means upon the closing of the trunk lidbeing engaged by said catch means and actuated thereby from arelease-position to a lock-position for locking the trunk lid, saidlatch means upon operation by a key moving from a lock-position to arelease-position whereby said trunk lid may be opened, a trunk lidholddown extensible mechanism comprising in combination,

- first means comprising secondary catch means attachable to said latchmeans in its lock-position and detachable from said latch means in itsrelease-position, second means comprising rope-turn means attachable tosaid catch means, third means comprising a hold-down rope having an endconnection portion connected to said secondary catch means with the freeportion thereof passing through said rope-turn means whereby said trunklid may be pulled down to a desired position short of the fully closedposition by pulling at least a part of said free portion through saidrope-turn means and thereby shortening the effective length of the ropebetween the secondary catch means and said ropeaturn means, fourth meanscomprising rope-stop means to arrest the backward movement of said ropethrough said rope-turn means to hold said trunk lid down to said desiredposition with an open space between the trunk lid and trunk body, andfifth means comprising extension means extending through said open spaceand between said rope-turn means and said rope stop means to positionsaid rope-stop means externally of said trunk body, whereby saidrope-stop means is readily accessible for operation, said latch meanshaving a latch body and a movable latch element mounted thereon, saidlatch body having a side from which said movable element extends, saidsecondary catch means comprising a member having spaced side portionsand at least a lateral portion extending therebetween, said lateralportion constituting a catch element adapted to be engaged by said latchelement in its lock-position, means to hold said lateral portion on saidlatch element in its lock-position, said latch element releasing saidlateral portion in its release-position whereby said secondary catchmeans may be detached from said latch means.

4. In combination with a trunk lock having latch means and catch meansmounted respectively on the trunk lid and trunk body or vice versa, saidlatch means having a lock-position and a release-position with respectto said catch means, said latch means upon the closing of the trunk lidbeing engaged by said catch means and actuated thereby from arelease-position to a lock-position for locking the trunk lid, saidlatch means upon operation by a key moving from a lock-position to arelease-position whereby said trunk lid may be opened, a trunk lidhold-down extensible mechanism comprising in combination, hold-downextensible means interconnecting said latch means and said catch meansto hold said trunk lid down to a desired position short of the fullyclosed position with an open space betwen the trunk lid and the trunkbody, adjustable means to vary the effective length of said hold-downextensible means, and extension means extending from a place within saidtrunk body and through said open space to a place externally of saidtrunk body for positioning said adjustable means externally of saidtrunk body whereby said adjustable means is readily accessible foroperation.

5. In combination with a trunk body and a trunk lid, hold-downextensible means mounted within said trunk body and interconnecting saidtrunk lid and said trunk body .to hold said trunk lid down to a desiredposition short of the fully closed position with an open space betweenthe trunk lid and the trunk body, adjustable means to vary the effectivelength of said hold-down extensible means, and extension means extendingfrom a place within said trunk body and through said open space to aplace externally of said trunk body for positioning said adjustablemeans externally of said trunk body whereby said adjustable means isreadily accessible for operation.

6. In combination with a trunk compartment having lid closure means andbody closure means, one of said closure mean-s being provided with latchmeans and the other of said closure means being provided with catchmeans,

the improvement of hold-down means for holding said lid closure meanspartially closed with respect to said body closure means, said hold-downmeans comprising, attachment means detachably connected to said latchmeans, rope-turn means detachably connected to said catch means,rope-stop means, said attachment means, said rope-turn means and saidrope-stop means comprising a combination of means forming a trianglewith each means located at the respective corners of the triangle,extension means having a first end portion connected to said rope-turnmeans and having a second end portion connected to said rope-stop means,said extension means fixedly determining the distance between saidrope-turn means and said rope-stop means, and rope means having a firstportion connected to said attachment means, a second portion makingpassing engagement with said ropeturn means and a third portionsecurable to said rope-stop means.

7. In combination with a trunk compartment having lid closure means andbody closure means, the improvement of hold-down mechanism for holdingsaid lid closure means partially closed with respect to said bodyclosure means, said hold-down mechanism comprising, first meansconnected to one of said closure means, rope-turn means connected to theother of said closure means, rope-stop forming a triangle with eachmeans located at the respective corners of the triangle, extension meanshaving. first and second .end portions, mounting means to mount saidfirst end portion to one of said closure means, means to mount saidrope-stop means to said second endportion of said extension means at'afixed distance from said ropeturn means, and rope meanshaving a firstportion connected to said firstmeans, a second portion making passingengagement with said rope-turn means and a third portion securable tosaid rope-stop means. I j

8. In combination with a trunk compartment having lid closure means andbody closuremeans, the improvement of; hold-down mechanism for holdingsaid lid. closure 19.111 combination. with latch'mechanism having alatch-position and a release-position, said latch mechanism including alatch body having first and second opposed side wall means and edgewallmeans therebetween defining the outside wall surface means of said latchbody,

said edge wall means having first and second opposed edge portions, alatch element in its latch-position extendable for apredetermined'distance in afirst lateral direction from said firstopposed edge-portion, an abutment surface means partially-closed withrespect to; said body closure;

means, said hold-down mechanism comprising, first means connected. toone of said closure means, rope-turnmeans means extending from saidsecondopposed ed'ge portion in a second lateral direction opposite tosaidfirst lateral direction infwhichsaid latch element is extendable,the improvement of a secondary catch member for-said latch mechanism,said secondary catch memberhaving at one end thereof catch structuremeans and having at the other end thereof. anchoring structuremeans,,flexible hold-down element means connected to said anchoringstructure means, said catch structure means having-first and secondopposed side portions and first and second op:

connected zto.the other of said closure means, rope stop means, saidfirst" means, said rope-turn means, and said rope-stop means comprisinga. combination of means forminga-triangle with each means located at therespective corners. of the triangle, extension means having first andsecond end portions, mounting'meansto mount said posed end portions,said first opposed endportion constituting a .catchiportion engageableby said latchelement in its latch-position, said second opposed endportion constitut-in'gv an abutting portion for abutting against saidsaid extension means at a fixed. distance from'said'rope turn'means, andrope means having a first portion connectedtoxsaid first means, asecond. portlon-makingzpassthan said abutting. portion to saidanchoring; structure means,said secondary 'catch member being manuallyattachable to said latch'element with said flexible hold-downelement'urgingsaid catch portion .of saidsecondary catch 'member tofulcrum about said latch element and coning engagement with saidrop'erturn means, and. a third to said lock means in its lock-positionand detachable from. said lock means in its release-position, hold-downextensible means including rope means mounted within said trunkcompartment and interconnecting saidlock straining said abutting portionof said secondary catch member .to abut against said abutment surfacemeans, said first and second opposed side portions and said first andsecond opposed end portions of said secondary catch member respectivelyconfronting said first and second opposed side wall means andsaidfirst'and second edge portions of said latch body to limit the movementof .said

' secondary catch member relative to said outside wall connectionmeansandlthe other of saidclosure means to hold said lid closure meansdown to, afdesired'position short of the fully closed position withanopen space be tween the lid closure means and the body closure means,hold-down fastening means externally of said trunkcom partment, saidrope means of said hold down extensible means being operable throughsaid open space and extending externally of said trunk compartment tosaid hold down fastening means whereby said rope meansimay be variedrastogits effective length and then fastened to said hold-down'faste'ningmeans'said lock means releasing said lock connection meanstherefrom in its released position whereby said lid closure means may beraised surface means of said latch body in said first lateral d-irection to an extent less than said predetermined distance to preventunintended release of said secondary catch memberfrom said latch elementin its latch-position.

1 1. The structureof claim 10 wherein said latch body includessaidabutment surface means;

12. The structure of claim 10 wherein said side portion "means and saidend portion means of said catch structure means residein a substantiallyflat plane.

. References Cited by the Examiner a i "UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/52Gardels. 2,916,902; 1'2/59 'Wamsley. 2,919,946 1/60 Miener. I 3,011,818.12/61 Matthiessen.

vnisr rson WOOD, JR.,.Priinary Examiner.

5. IN COMBINATION WITH A TRUNK BODY AND A TRUNK LID, HOLD-DOWNEXTENSIBLE MEANS MOUNTED WITHIN SAID TRUNK BODY AND INTERCONNECTING SAIDTRUNK LID AND SAID TRUNK BODY TO HOLD SAID TRUNK LID DOWN TO A DESIREDPOSITION SHORT OF THE FULLY CLOSED POSITION WITH AN OPEN SPACES BETWEENTHE TRUNK LID AND THE TRUNK BODY, ADJUSTABLE MEANS TO VARY THE EFFECTIVELENGTH OF SAID HOLD-DOWN EXTENSIBLE MEANS, AND EXTENSION MEANS EXTENDINGFROM A PLACE WITHIN SAID TRUNK BODY AND THROUGH SAID OPEN SPACE TO APLACE EXTERNALLY OF SAID TRUNK BODY FOR POSITIONING SAID ADJUSTABLEMEANS EXTERNALLY OF SAID TRUNK BODY WHEREBY SAID ADJUSTABLE MEANS ISREADILY ACCESSIBLE FOR OPERATION.